Never Back Down
by Revert9Volt
Summary: Sarutobi Masamune has always dreamed of becoming the best Pokemon Trainer there ever was. However, there was a trainer before him who had achieved that title. With his new Growlithe at his side, Sarutobi sets out on a journey to find and defeat that trainer and earn the title for himself.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon (a.k.a. Pocket Monsters) or any of its various characters and themes. Both rights, and/or ownership, to the Pokémon franchise belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

**A/N: **This story is literally an "as I go along" project, so I apologize if it doesn't turn out too great. As said in the disclaimer, I do not own Pokémon. However, I will be using their characters and themes in this story. With that said, let's get started.

_If you have any questions, comments, and/or concerns about this story, please message me and let me know so that I may help resolve them._

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[Chapter One - **"The Day It All Began"**]

"Tobi. Tobi, dear, wake up.", my mother called repeatedly as she shook my shoulders repeatedly.

I opened my eyes and, after giving them a moment to focus, I turned my head and looked toward my mother. My eyes still looked a bit tired at this point.

"Oh, finally! I was wondering how long you had planned on sleeping.", she said.

As I sat up in my bed, I rubbed my eyes. "What time is it?"

"It's 2:13pm, Tobi. I'd thought you'd be gone by now." she replied.

"Holy crap!" I shouted surprised. "Talk about overslept."

I jumped out of bed as quickly as I could and changed clothes. (Don't worry. My mother was already out of the room at this point.) Anyway, after making sure I had everything I needed...watch, backpack, etc. I ran downstairs and made my way out of the house. I said goodbye to my mother upon leaving. After all, I won't see her again for who-knows-how-long.

What am I in such a hurry for, you ask? Well that's simple. Today is the day where I am to get my first Pokémon. That's right! My very own Pokémon that I get to train and battle alongside of. Together with my Pokémon, I will become the world's greatest trainer. Oh, and if you're wondering, my name is Sarutobi Masamune and I am 15 years old.

In order to get my first Pokémon, I had to make it to the Professor's Lab, located uphill from my home, unfortunately. I got on my bike and hurried along the path to the Lab. It didn't take long to gt there but it was a bit of a pain, all the same. Once I made it to the lab, I hopped off my bike and leaned it against the building, then walked in. The outside was very misleading as you wouldn't expect this place to look as big as I had realized it was once I was inside. There were computers and machines everywhere. And I mean, everywhere. There were hallways beyond hallways, leading to dining rooms, living rooms, and more. In short, this place was a pretty interesting place. No wonder the Professor lives here. As I continued to see the machines and whatnot, the Professor began to speak from behind me.

"Good afternoon, young man. How may I help you?" he asked with a cheerful smile on his face.

I turned to face him and responded quickly, "My name is Sarutobi Masamune, sir, and I am here to get my first Pokémon and begin my journey to become the world's greatest trainer."

"I see. Well, I will gladly give you your first Pokémon, however, at the moment, I'm afraid I only have one Pokémon left for you to receive.", he replied in an apologetic tone.

"That's okay." I replied.

"Okay then. In that case, follow me." He then began to lead me to one of the many rooms in the lab. In the middle of the room, there was a table. On that table was a single Pokeball, a sphere-shaped device used to capture and hold one's Pokémon. I wondered what Pokémon I would receive. "Inside this Pokeball is the Pokémon called Growlithe. Why don't you go ahead and say hello." The Professor then picked up and handed me the Pokeball from the table and I stared at it with anticipation.

I tossed the Pokeball towards the floor. "C'mon out, Growlithe!", I said.

The Pokeball tapped the floor, bounced up and floated in mid-air. It opened up and a bright white flash of light began to fly out of it. The light started to take form after a few seconds and then it disappeared. In its place, stood a dog-like creature with orange fur. It had three black stripes along its back, along with two black stripes on both its hind legs and one stripe on both its front legs. It also had a tuft of fur on the top of its head and a fluffy tail, both of which were a cream color. Its nose was small and black, its muzzle rounded and the insides of its ears were light brown.

"Grow-lithe", the creature spoke. (They cant speak like we can. They can only say their name.)

My eyes widened with excitement. This had to be one of the greatest moments of my life. I was finally about to start my journey to become a Pokémon master and this Growlithe was going to help me reach that goal. I just couldn't believe this was all really happening. I was tempted to pinch myself just to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

I squatted down and took a look at Growlithe. "Hi there, Growlithe."

"Grow-L-ithe," it replied as its small but fluffy tail shuffled around.

"This Growlithe is a girl, in case you were hoping to give it a nickname." the Professor chimed in.

'A girl, huh? I wonder, what name should I give you then?' I went into real deep thought on this. This was my first pokemon, after all, so I wanted it...I mean, her, to have the best name I could think of. After a couple of minutes (Did I really have to think that long?), I got an idea.

"I got it! From now on, Growlithe, your name shall be Lilith." I said proudly.

Growlithe seemed excited by its new name as it started jumping around me on its hind legs.

The Professor walked up to me holding out 6 empty poke balls and a small tablet-like device. "Here are your poke balls and Pokedex. The Pokedex will record all the Pokémon you meet on your journey. It also has many other functions, including communication. From this day forward, you are now officially a Pokémon trainer.", he said.

I looked back at Growlithe and smiled proudly. "You hear that, Lilith? Our journey begins today. Let's give it our best."

Growlithe once again shouted its name in agreement. Afterwards, I pulled out her poke ball and pointed it towards her. "Okay, Lilith. Return!", I called out and a red flash of light beamed out of the poke ball just as the white flash had before. Only this time, the light touched Lilith and losing her materialized form, she returned to the poke ball. It was at that moment, I wondered what the Pokémon actually did in their balls. But then I shook the thought away.

I made my way outside of the lab and waved goodbye to the Professor as I hopped on my bike and rode north of my hometown. Every trainer had but one goal during their journey. That was to defeat the gym leaders of each town and collect the eight Gym badges. Once all were collected, the trainer could enter the Pokémon League championships. If they rose victorious, they would be crowned the greatest Pokémon Master. That was my dream. My goal. And Lilith was going to help me make that dream a reality. "Look out, Gym leaders. A new challenger is about to arrive!", I shouted to the sky as I picked up speed. There was a trainer who had left a few years before me who had a similar dream and is now the regional champion. One day, I hope to meet that trainer and I will show him who's really the best.

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**A/N:** Growlithe's nickname, Lilith, was an idea given to me by a friend. So I owe her credit for that. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please leave a review even if you did not. Depending on my reviews, I shall continue with this story. It is a short chapter but that is simply because I want to know how well this story will actually do before I write any more.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Pokémon (a.k.a. Pocket Monsters) or any of its various characters and themes. Both rights, and/or ownership, to the Pokémon franchise belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

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[Chapter Two - **"****Conflicting Ideals****"**]

After about an hour or two of pedaling down the road, I decided I should check out my map of the region. It'd be a good idea to learn about all the routes I would need to take and all the possible shortcuts and what-not that I could take as I saw fit. (Especially, since I've ridden for so long now without reaching a single town or city.) I scanned the map and noticed that the next town I'd be passing through would be Viridian City. Then I'd have to make it through Viridian Forest and that would lead me to Pewter City.

_Well then, to Viridian City I go._

I got back on my bike after putting the map back in my bag then went back to pedaling. To save some time, I pedaled pretty fast. Soon enough, I made it into Viridian City. It wasn't all that big though, and that was surprising. After all, it was a "city", so you'd expect it to be filled with big buildings and lights. One of the buildings had a large pokeball-shaped roof with the label "Pokémon Center".

"I guess I'll go to the Shopping Center first. I'll want to stock up on a few things before I head to the gym that I noticed as I entered the city.", I said to myself out loud. (Oh, and by the way, the shopping center is commonly called the PokeMart.)

I hopped off my bike and walked it over to the shop, where I then locked it against one of the bike railings before heading inside. I looked around on all the shelves and picked up a few spray bottles labeled, "Antidote" and "Parlyz Heal". I didn't bother picking up any extra pokeballs since the Professor had already given me five other ones. Just so you know, a trainer may only have six total pokemon with them at any given time. They may not go over that limit. Any pokemon they catch beyond the six they carry will automatically get transferred someplace else. Where that someplace is, I have no clue at the moment.

Anyway, I made sure I had everything I wanted and made my way over to the counter. On my way there, someone suddenly bumped into me, causing me to drop everything I was carrying at the time. Apparently, they weren't watching where they were going. "Hey, what the heck is your problem?", I asked as I stood up on my feet and dusted myself off a little.

The person that bumped me didn't say anything in return. Instead, he glared at me with a blank expression and then turned and made his way out of the Shopping Center.

_Gee, what a jerk._ I thought.

Dismissing the occurrence, I returned to gathering the items I had dropped and continued to bring them to the front checkout desk. The man behind the counter stared me down a bit. "New trainer, right?"

His question caught me off-guard, "Y-yes, sir. I received my first pokemon not too long ago and I plan on becoming the world's greatest pokemon trainer."

"That's quite a lofty goal you got there, kid.", he replied. "Make sure you keep a lot of items handy, or you'll find yourself in a serious bind."

"Yes, sir." I said while holding out the 400 pokedollars needed to pay for all of the items I had.

The man accepted the money with a smile and I then put the items in my backpack and left the shopping center.

I walked outside and made my way to the gym. When I tried opening the door, I realized they were locked. _Well, that's odd._ I thought to myself. Now the question was, why? Why are the doors to the gym locked? How am I to get my first badge, if the doors to the gym were locked. Not like I was sure that I'd win. After all, the gym leaders are chosen due to their battling skills. That meant that each, and every one of them, had to be really strong trainers and must have really strong pokemon. But, I at least wanted the opportunity to give it a shot just to get a feel for it. I wanted. No. Needed answers badly. So I began to explore the city in search of someone who could offer those answers.

During my search, I asked many people but they all seemed to give me the same response. _The gym has been closed for some time now and no has seen the gym leader in years._ How could that be? I understand the leader has a life of their own too but to be gone for years? Something here just seemed odd. After hearing that response from a few other people, I chose to give up on the idea. "I guess all I can do now is head out of the city and find another gym elsewhere." I told myself.

"Kaoru, use your bubble attack!" I heard someone call out from a short distance.

"Sounds like a pokemon battle is underway. I gotta see this!" I made my way over to where I heard the calling and, truth be told, there was definitely a battle going on.

The trainer with a blue tadpole-like pokemon, looked somewhere around my age and had hair as white as snow. He wore an unzipped purple jacket with a yellow t-shirt underneath. He had black jeans to match as well as a silver bracelet on his left arm. The trainer he was facing was a younger kid, probably only 7 or 8 years old, tops.

"What is that?" I asked myself as I observed the battle. I pulled the pokedex from my pocket and pointed it towards the blue pokemon. In a robotic voice, the pokedex began to speak, _'Poliwag, the tadpole pokemon. Poliwag's skin is so thin, its internal organs are visible. Since it is inept at walking on its newly grown legs, it is more often found swimming around in water.'_

"Dodge it, Rattata!" the younger kid yelled in response. "Then use your Tackle attack!"

The boy's rattata began to rush towards the other trainer's Poliwag. However, the trainer seemed to have something planned, as he did nothing but smile.

"Kaoru, use your Hypnosis!" Upon hearing its trainer's command, the Poliwag began to stare down the charging Rattata. It's eyes began to glow a light red and small waves began to leave its body and move toward the Rattata. The Rattata then began to feel drowsy and slow down until it fell completely asleep.

"No, Ratata! Hurry and wake up or we're finished." the young boy begged.

"Sorry, kid. But this battle's already over. Kaoru, finish this off with your water gun attack." Like before, the Poliwag quickly obeyed its command and sprayed out a gush of water from its small mouth. The water flew at a very high-speed and slammed right into the sleeping Rattata, knocking it unconscious.

The younger kid ran over to his defeated pokemon and praised it for doing its best. He then faced the other trainer and thanked him for the battle. And with a smile, the kid turned and walked away. Most likely to get his pokemon healed at the Pokemon Center.

I walked up to the trainer who had won as he called back his Pokemon to its ball. "That was an awesome battle! Your poliwag has some incredible speed for such a little guy."

"Thanks! And you are?" the trainer asked me in a semi-confused tone. My sudden comment must have caught him off-guard.

"My name is Sarutobi Masamune. Or, Tobi, for short. I'm on a journey to become the greatest pokemon trainer." I replied proudly.

The trainer laughed a little. "Is that so? Well, my name is Kyo Takanawa. And I too am on a journey to become the greatest pokemon trainer."

We both stared each other down. For me, this was awkward. I witness my very first pokemon battle with my own two eyes only to find out that I practically have a rival already. It took everything I had not to try to show him up. "Really? That's great. That means you and I are like rivals."

"It would seem so. After all, there can only be one who is the best. And I don't plan on giving that title away so easily." Kyo replied.

As he and I went back and forth, we heard a voice through a loudspeaker. "HEY, NEW TRAINERS! HOW WOULD YOU LIKE THE OPPORTUNITY TO TEST YOUR ABILITIES AS A TRAINER? THEN COME ON DOWN AND JOIN OUR TOURNAMENT! THIS WILL BE A ONE-ON-ONE WINNER-TAKE-ALL EVENT, SO CHOOSE YOUR POKEMON WISELY! ALL OTHER RULES WILL BE EXPLAINED UPON ENTRY! YOU CAN ENTER YOUR NAME AND THE POKEMON YOU WILL BE USING AT THE KIOSK IN FRONT OF THE POKEMON CENTER! THE TOURNAMENT WILL BE HELD IN THE MATRIX AUDITORIUM LOCATED IN THE CENTER OF THE CITY! MAY THE BEST TRAINER WIN!"

"Well that was a long announcement.", I said in an un-amused tone.

"I'll say." Kyo said in agreement.

I suddenly had an idea. If this Kyo-person and I joined the tournament together, I could show him that I am better than he is and that I would be the one to gain the title of best pokemon trainer. "Hey, why don't we join that tournament?"

"What are you getting at?" Kyo asked curiously.

"If both of us join that tournament, we could find out which one of us is the better trainer." I replied.

Kyo put a hand to his chin as if to consider the idea. After a moment of silence, he shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not. It wouldn't hurt to join."

Good. Now that that was settled, we headed towards the pokemon center to join. I signed my name along with Growlithe's name, Lilith. Kyo did the same by singing his own name along with his Poliwag's name, Kaoru. Then we headed for the Matrix Auditorium.

~~ In A Place Elsewhere ~~

_"Sir, phase one is complete. The trainers are all gathering to enter the tournament as planned." a man said._

_"Good. Once the tournament begins, we'll commence phase two. These new trainers will be easy pickings. As naïve as they are, they won't suspect a thing.", the man's boss said from his chair._

_"Things seem to be a lot easier now that THAT kid isn't meddling with our plans anymore." a woman said from across the room._

_"That's right. I still want that boy's Pikachu. But, for now, we'll focus on gathering the pokemon of these unsuspecting trainers. Muahahaha!" the boss said in his chair before laughing maniacally._

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**A/N:** The character, Kyo Takanawa belongs to a friend of mine. He has a pretty good on-going My Little Pony story, titled "Starswirls Legacy". Go check it out if you have the time. The nickname for Kyo's Poliwag is also his idea.

Anywho, hope you all enjoy this chapter. It took me awhile to get it put together correctly and I still feel like I should have added a little more, but I don't want the chapter to be too long. That is because I want to give as much detail as possible without spoiling the story and/or ending it too quickly. Also, the Matrix Auditorium will be described in the next chapter, in case you were curious about it. Til next time!

Don't forget to leave a review. I'd really appreciate it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon (a.k.a. Pocket Monsters) or any of its various characters and themes. Both rights, and/or ownership, to the Pokémon franchise belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

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[Chapter Three - **"We Can Do This, Lilith!"**]

The Matrix Auditorium had to be the biggest building here in Viridian. It wasn't the tallest, but it was definitely the biggest. And that was only from looking at the outside. It was an oval-shaped, coffee brown building. I could tell from the outside that the inside would be pretty spacey. Perfect place for a flurry of one-on-one battles. I was really excited for this tournament. That other guy, Kyo, didn't seem as excited or, at least, he didn't show any expression of it. He had a very plain look on his face. One that showed he was neither excited, nor bored, but somewhere in-between. _Cocky bastard._

At the door stood two people, a man and a woman. In the middle of them, and practically the doorway, was a sensor-like thing. (One that you would find in a shopping market or similar place that would alert the people if something was being stolen.) The two people were asking people to walk through it and to give their entry name. Why we needed to walk through the sensor was beyond me but I followed suit of everyone else when I made it to them.

"Sarutobi Masamune." I said.

The man to my left nodded and gestured for me to walk through the sensor and then into the building. I did as I was instructed and made my way in. I wasn't sure why, but something about those two felt...suspicious. Maybe it was the sensor? I don't know but I decided it was probably just my nerves and put the thought aside. I needed to focus on winning this tournament.

As expected, the inside was really spacey. Way more then I thought too. It was like being in a basketball stadium. This was pretty amazing.

"WELCOOOME, TRRRAINERS!", the female announcer began through her megaphone, "TODAY IN THIS VERY ROOM, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO PROVE WHICH ONE OF YOU IS THE SUPERIOR TRAINER. ONLY ONE MAY COME OUT ON TOP. THE QUESTION NOW IS, WHO WILL IT BE? PLEASE MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE LOCKER ROOM TO YOUR LEFT. ONCE THERE, YOU WILL BE PRESENTED WITH YOUR TOURNAMENT PLACEMENT NUMBERS. THESE NUMBERS WILL DETERMINE YOUR PLACE IN OUR TOURNEY. GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU! TIME TO GET STAARTED!"

We all did just that. The locker room was spacey as well. That was a surprise. I sat down on one of the benches and leaned back against the wall. I couldn't wait to be called out. Some of the other trainers released their pokemon from their pokeballs. I guess to give them some time to move around and what-not before their next battles.

Kyo sat down next to me. "There's a pretty interesting group of pokemon and trainers here. Think you have what it takes to beat them all?", he asked me sarcastically.

I looked around the room at the various pokemon. "Of course I can. And I'll definitely defeat you as well so you better not lose. I plan on showing you just how a real trainer does things." I replied in a mocking tone.

Kyo leaned against the wall behind us and closed his eyes, after crossing his arms in front of him. "Yeah. We'll see about that. But I like your determination. That's a good thing to have."

Soon after we finished talking, the announcer walked into the locker room. This time without her megaphone but with a box in her hand. "Okay, trainers. Please take a number from this box. That number will determine who you will be facing throughout the tournament."

Everyone in the room walked up and grabbed a number from the box, one-by-one. I picked a 11, while Kyo pulled a 14. After we all had a number, the announcer left the room after gesturing towards a screen on one of the side walls. The screen turned on and showed a bracket list. On that list were the numbers each of us had chosen. I was on the fifth bracket and my opponent was number 8. Kyo was on the sixth bracket against number 5. The tournament had now officially begun.

The battles before me were pretty sweet to watch. It only raised my excitement. Soon enough, though, it was my time to battle. I got up from the bench and made my out into the middle of the auditorium. Once I was there, I walked over to my end of the battlefield. My opponent did the same. It was a young boy but he looked really serious.

"You ready for this? I'm giving it all I've got." the kid said proudly.

"I've been ready from the moment I stepped out onto this battlefield. I'll be giving it my all as well.", I replied as proudly as the kid before.

"Then let's get started! Raticate, time for battle!" the boy threw a pokeball forward as he called for his pokemon. The ball hit the floor, rolled, then opened up. A white light flashed out of the ball and the Raticate materialized. It looked similar to the Rattata from earlier today. Only it was bigger and had brown fur, instead of purple.

With a smile on my face, I pulled a pokeball from my hip and looked at it. "It's our first battle together, Lilith. Let's show them what we can do." I pressed the button on the pokeball and it grew. then I threw it forward. It hit the floor, rolled, then opened. Lilith materialized soon after.

"Growl-lithe." Lilith spoke.

"A Growlithe?" the kid asked. "Didn't expect to see one of those. This is going to be a great battle, I can tell."

"Then what do say we stop the chit-chat and get started?" I suggested.

"Of course. Raticate, start off with your Sand Attack!" he yelled before his Raticate jumped up, did a 180 spin, then started kicking up dust with its hind legs. The dust must have got caught in Growlithe's eyes because after shaking her head a little, she flinched, struggling to keep her eyes open. "Now, while it's dazed by the sand, hit it with a Tackle attack!", the trainer called out. Before I could even call out a response, the Raticate had already charged forward and slammed into Growlithe with great force.

"Lilith, are you okay?" I asked a bit worried. Lilith, however, wasn't ready to give up just yet. She quickly got up off the ground and shook her head once more. I noticed her eyes were now wide open. The sand must have left her eyes. _Perfect. Now we can start our counter attack._ "Lilith, we'll start with your Leer attack!", I called.

Lilith's eyes began to glow red and it stared hard at the Raticate who had just finished recovering from the Tackle attack it landed a moment ago. The Raticate became a bit intimidated by Lilith. I could see it in its eyes. "Now, let's get em hard and fast. Use your "bite" attack!"

"Don't think it'll be that easy." the kid said quickly, "Raticate, evade it!" The Raticate did just that. It jump up as high as it could. Fortunately for him, it was just high enough to avoid Lilith's attack. Lilith pressed its paws hard against the ground below to slow its run and spun to face the Raticate.

"Geez, kid. You're tough. And that Raticate of yours is really fast." I complimented.

"You're not bad yourself. your Growlithe has some really high stamina for sure." the kid responded.

I had to come up with a way to slow this kid's pokemon or there was no chance for Lilith's attack to land on point. _Wait a second, that's it!_

"Lilith, use your bite attack once more." I said.

"You may be good but you don't learn very quickly. Raticate dodge it again." The Raticate jumped up like it did before.

I laughed a little bit at how obvious that maneuver was. "I was hoping you'd do that."

"Wait, what?" the kid said worried.

"Lilith, Tackle that Raticate with all you've got!" I yelled.

Lilith said its name as though agreeing with me then jumped up toward the Raticate. My plan worked perfectly and Lilith slammed into the Raticate with a force greater than the Raticate's prior, causing it to fall to the floor unconcious.

_"Raticate is unable to battle. Lilith, the Growlithe, is the winner."_ The referee called out.

I jumped up and down with excitement filling my voice. "Yeah, we did it! You were awesome, Lilith!"

Lilith ran up to me and turned by my side before saying her name again. "Growl-ithe."

The kid pulled a pokeball from his belt and held it forward. "You did a good job, my friend. Return!" A red light shined out of the pokeball in Raticate's direction. Raticate dematerialized and then returned to its ball. "That was a great battle. How did you figure out that strategy so fast, though?" The kid asked curiously.

I walked up to him, Lilith beside me. "When our battle started and your Raticate used its Sand Attack, I noticed it's hind legs were really strong. It really kicked up a lot of it. That told me that it had a lot of strength to it. When you tackle Lilith, that's when I realized your Raticate had a lot of speed. But what I also noticed is that even with that speed, Raticate rushed into Lilith without jumping off it's hind legs. That is how I knew to use its jumping maneuver against it. It had to jump off its hind legs to get as high as it did. With it being airborne, there's wasn't anything it could do, even with it's speed. So I had Lilith here build up speed so that it could use the gravity against Raticate, who was a sitting duck at that point."

"I see. I stand corrected. You DO learn very quickly. Good luck to you in your next matches.", He reached his hand out upon saying this.

"Thanks." I reached out my hand and shook his. "We'll continue to do our best."

He nodded his head and then we released the handshake and he walked away. I let out a sigh of relief. _So, that is how it feels to be in a Pokemon Battle, huh? It's a lot more difficult than I previously imagined. I better be careful in these next couple of matches._ I thought to myself before heading back to the locker room. I was definitely sure that things were only going to get a bit harder beyond this point._  
_

As I sat down on the bench I had been on, prior to going out to battle, Kyo had stood up. I guess to stretch. "Good job out there."

"Thanks. To be honest, I was surprised the battle turned out the way it did." That was true. That entire speech I gave the kid earlier about how I figured out the best response to his attacks and manuevers confused even me. It was like the strategy was second nature to me.

"I can believe that. Being a new trainer and all, you did figure out the best move to turn that battle around pretty fast. I'll need to make sure to watch out for you. But, don't let that get to your head. You still won't beat me and Kaoru. Don't forget, your Lilith is a Fire-type pokemon. Fire-types are weak against Water-types." He said matter-of-factly.

"I know that much already. And don't think for one second that that's going to stop me from beating you. You may have the type advantage, but that'll mean nothing if your attacks don't hit their target." I responded with a slight attitude.

Kyo laughed under his breath. "That is a good point. Guess we'll just have to keep winning these battles til we both make it to the top then."

"Right!" I said with confidence.

Just as I finished my response, the announcer began to speak again. "OKAY, THE NEXT MATCH-UP WILL BE BETWEEN NUMBERS 14 AND 5! TRAINERS, MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE STADIUM NOW!"

"Looks like we're up. Make sure you take some notes, okay. You might need em' later." Kyo said in an over-confident tone.

"Right..." I replied unamused.

Kyo made his way out to the battlefield. "Time to get things started, Kaoru. Let's go!" he said before throwing his pokeball forward. Kaoru, his Poliwag appeared and jumped up and down on its small legs repeating its name in a musical manner.

His opponent was a female teenager somewhere around our age. "Is zat all you've got for me today, my friend?", The girl asked in a French accent. "Sen zis will be very easy for us."

"Oh brother..." Kyo said unamused.

The girl pulled a pokeball from the strap along the hem of the dress she was wearing. She threw the pokeball forward in a very graceful manner. "Now go, Smeargle!" An odd tanish-white and dark brown pokemon appeared. On top of its head was something in the shape of a beret. The Pokemon was holding its tail in its hand and coincidentally, the tip of its tail was a green color, making it look like a large paintbrush.

"What in the world is that supposed to be?" Kyo asked confused. I could see in his expression, from the screen we were all watching the two of them through, that he was just as confused as I was.

"Zis is Smeargle. And 'ee will be your opponent for zis match." She responded in that same French accent.

_I don't know what tricks this girl has up her sleeves but that pokemon doesn't look all that intimidating. This should be an easy victory for Kyo._ I said to myself.

The referee held up the flags for both sides. "_The battle will be between Smeargle and Poliwag...BEGIN!"_ The referee then dropped the flags at the same time as a signal for the battle to commence.

"Let's see what you and your Smeargle are made of." Kyo said.

"Oh, don't you worry, my love. 'ee will definitely be a very tough opponent. I would advise you not to let your ga'rd down." She responded with a mocking smile.

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**A/N:** Okay, so you're probably wondering why I typed the girl's speech that way. I know it's a little weird and jumbled, but that was pretty much the only idea I could come up with to give the girl her French accent. If any of you have a better way of writing it out, I would greatly appreciate the advice. Anywho, despite that tiny mishap, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Next chapter will be a little more interesting. By the way, if you didn't notice, I add a little "hint" regarding Satoshi. If you read this chapter carefully, you will find it. Til next time, everyone!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Pokémon (a.k.a. Pocket Monsters) or any of its various characters and themes. Both rights, and/or ownership, to the Pokémon franchise belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo.

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[Chapter Four - **"Too Close For Comfort****"**]

'_This Smeargle of hers doesn't look all that threatening. I mean, look at it. Would I possibly need to worry that much about its abilities?', _Kyo thought to himself.

"Alright, Kaoru! We'll start things off for now. Hit that Smeargle with your Bubble Attack!", Kyo commanded.

Poliwag followed its trainer's orders and bubbles began to rush out from its mouth at a pretty decent speed.

Without its trainer saying anything, the Smeargle waved its tail in a circle in front of itself, popping all of the bubbles that came its way.

"Say what?!", Kyo exclaimed. '_It blocked the attack with only its tail?_'

The french girl laughed. "Is s'at ze' best you've got? You'll 'ave to do better s'an zat."

Kyo clenched his teeth together and growled. "Kaoru, let's try a Double Slap attack this time!"

Poliwag closed the gap between it and its opponent, then turned around and went to slap Smeargle with its tail. But before its attack could land, Smeargle grabbed Poliwag's tail with its free hand. (Smeargle's other hand was still holding its own tail.)

"What the-" Kyo started.

"I told you already, didn't I? You're not trying 'ard enough.", The girl said. "Smeargle, get rid of that little tadpole. Throw it as hard as you can."

The Smeargle reacted immediately and tossed Kaoru away as though it were as light as a feather. Kaoru landed on its feet and wobbled a bit, dizzy from being thrown through the air. But it soon shook the dizziness away and was ready to continue.

"Kaoru, you alright?", Kyo asked.

"Poli!", Kaoru returned. It's tone of voice was a cheerful one so Kyo knew he was still ready to fight.

"Alright then, hit it with your best Water Gun!"

Poliwag sprayed a rush of water from its mouth in Smeargle's direction. But, like before, the Smeargle spun its tail in front of itself, repelling the attack.

_'That is seriously starting to get on my nerves.', _Kyo thought to himself.

"Okay then, Smeargle. W'at do you say we start our attack now?", the girl said, her Smeargle standing ready. "Use Sketch!"

"Sketch?", Kyo asked aloud.

Smeargle held its tail forward, like a painter holds the paintbrush, and began to draw something in the air. A shadow-like image appear and water began to rush forward from the image.

"Oh no! Kaoru, look out!", Kyo yelled. Kaoru barely dodged the attack. "Was that a Water Gun? How did you manage that?"

The girl laughed. "You gave us the attack, my friend. Z'at is se' power of Sketch. It allows the user to copy any move its target has used against it in battle."

"So now you're telling me that I have to fight a pokemon that can copy all of my attacks?", Kyo asked, a little nervous about how this battle would turn out.

"Z'at's right, my friend. You have given me everything I need to defeat you. Are you ready to give up yet?", The girl asked sarcastically.

"If you think that a simple painting copycat is going to stop me, you've thought wrong." Kyo looked toward Kaoru who had been looking his way. Kyo nodded and Kaoru turned back toward Smeargle, determination in its eyes. "In that case, we'll just have to change things around a bit."

"W'at are you talking about?" The girl asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Kaoru, let's go!" Kyo yelled.

"Poli!", Poliwag replied.

"Use your Bubble attack, Kaoru!"

Poliwag spewed bubbles forward like before. The Smeargle held its tail forward.

"Sketch it, Smeargle.", the girl said before Smeargle began painting another shadowy image in the air. The image starting spewing bubbes just like Poliwag had done a second ago. The bubbles cancelled each other out.

"I was hoping you'd do that. Kaoru, use Water Gun while it's distracted!", Kyo added.

Poliwag had closed in on its opponent by this time. It sprayed water from its mouth with great force and high speed. The water hit its target hard and caused it to fly back a little. However, the Smeargle caught its feet in the ground and, after sliding a few inches back, came to a halt.

"I see. So, you do 'ave some fight in you, after all." the girl said. She didn't seemed worried at all, despite her pokemon taking such a strong attack from that close. "But z'at only makes this more fun for Smeargle and I. Smeargle, close the distance between you and that Poliwag."

Smeargle let go of its tail and at that instant, Kyo became nervous. _'Wait, it released its tail? Why would they rush forward? That pokemon could just Sketch our att-"_

"Kaoru, look out!", Kyo yelled, finally realizing what was coming.

"Too late." Smeargle dashed forward with great speed. By the time Poliwag could prepare itself for an attack, Smeargle had already been standing in front of it. "Smeargle, use your pound attack!"

Smeargle jumped and crashed directly into Poliwag, the force through Poliwag through the air, straight towards Kyo.

"Kaoru!" Kyo was now worried about Poliwag's condition but Poliwag got up ready for more. "You sure you're okay, buddy?"

Poliwag nodded then jumped forward a few paces. It was clear to Kyo that Kaoru was determined to win this battle no matter how much abuse it had to take to do it.

"I'm with you, my friend. Let's show em' what we're made of." They nodded in unison.

The girl was clapping her hands together. "I must say, you're doing way better than I 'ad figured you would. But 'ow much longer can you last? It's clear you can't win. Not only can my Smeargle copy your attacks, but it's also faster z'an your Poliwag, not to mention, stronger. Z'ere is nothing you could possibly do to 'arm us."

"You talk too much, you know that?" Kyo said sarcastically. "Kaoru, Water Gun. Let's go!"

Poliwag sprayed water forward like before.

"Smeargle, dodge it then close in and use pound." Smeargle began to rush toward Poliwag, zig-zagging in order to avoid the water. When it got close enough, it jumped forward, crashing into Poliwag and sending it flying backwards again. But, Poliwag got back up, not ready to quit.

"Kaoru, use your bubble attack, then your double slap."

"Poli." Kaoru spewed bubbles from its mouth. The bubbles were a little faster than before.

"Smeargle, sketch it." Smeargle sketched the move, repelling every bubble visible. By this time, Poliwag had closed the distance between them and turned to slap Smeargle with its tail.

"Don't you learn?" the girl started, "Smeargle, grab it like before."

Smeargle grabbed Poliwag by its tail like before. At this time, Kyo smirked.

"Kaoru, Water Gun! Hurry!"

With its tail be held, Kaoru turned to face Smeargle and fired a water gun from point-blank range, causing the Smeagle to release its tail. Smeargle flew backward while Kaoru landed on the ground below itself.

Smeargle caught its footing again and stood ready.

"Well z'at was a very quick turn of events. Using my earlier tactics as a way to create your own. Nicely done." the girl flipped her hair upon saying this.

"I told you, didn't I? We're not ready to quit just yet."

I sat there in awe by how well these two battled together. I wondered if Lilith and I would be that great one day. The thought excited me. I was going to remember this battle no matter who won.

"Well then, my friend, prepare yourself for some more punishment." the girl started, "Smeargle, Fury Attack!"

Smeargle rushed toward Kaoru, who had been running towards it.

"Kaoru, double slap!"

The two pokemon's attacks clashed and they jumped backward afterwards. After a moment of rest, they repeated the process. This went on about three more times before Poliwag had lost power over Smeargle, causing it to take a flurry of blows.

"This battle's over." the french girl said in an irritating tone of voice.

Even I found it irritating and I wasn't even battling her.

"Kaoru...please tell me you can still stand, pal." Kyo said, his voice filled with worry for his pokemon's condition.

Poliwag struggled to get back on its feet.

"Why doesn't z'at pokemon just stay put? Does it really enjoy this much punishment?" the girl said annoyed.

"Kaoru? Don't strain yourself." Kyo said.

As it struggled to get back on its feet, Poliwag's body suddenly started glowing a bright white. The light surrounded its body and took another shape. When the light faded, Poliwag had changed form.

"Kaoru?", Kyo asked.

I burst out of my seat with utter surprise. "Wow! That's amazing. Poliwag just evolved!"

I could feel the other trainers in the room staring at me but I didn't care. I was way too excited to pay much attention to them. I just experienced my first evolution.

"W'at is z'at t'ing? Did it just...evolve?", the girl exclaimed in shock at what had just taken place.

The new Kaoru turned to Kyo. "Poliwhirl.", it said.

"Poliwhirl, eh?", Kyo started, "Looks like we're back in this, pal."

Kaoru nodded and turned back to Smeargle.

"Let's finish this battle once and for all!"

"Whirl!", Kaoru replied.

"Evolution or not, it's still not a match for my Smeargle. Use your Fury Attack, once more!"

"Kaoru, dodge it."

Kaoru followed its orders and dodged all of Smeargle's strikes with ease.

"Impossible! 'e dodged all of z'em?" the girl asked.

At this point, I knew who was going to win this fight.

"Kaoru, Double Slap!"

Kaoru raised its arm and began slapping Smeargle repeatedly.

"Smeargle, get out of z'ere, quickly!"

Smeargle braced itself and then managed to get away from Kaoru before its next attack landed.

"Kaoru, Water Gun! Let's go!" Kyo continued.

Poliwhirl then sprayed water forward. This time, with more way more force and speed than it had when it was a Poliwag.

"Sketch it, Smeargle."

"I knew you'd do that."

"What?" the girl said, caught off guard by Kyo's comment.

"Kaoru, Hypnosis!"

Poliwhirl stood still and stared at Smeargle. Its eyes began to glow a bright red and Smeargle fell asleep almost instantly. The water, however, was still traveling towards it. The water gun hit its target and sent it flying towards its trainer. Smeargle had lost.

"No, Smeargle!"

_"SMEARGLE IS UNABLE TO CONTINUE THE BATTLE. POLIWHIRL IS THE WINNER!"_, the announcer stated.

Just like before, I burst with excitement. This meant that Kyo and I would possibly face each other later on in the tournament. I couldn't wait.

"Great job, Kaoru." Kyo said as he walked up to his partner. He then walked over to his opponent, who had just finished praising her pokemon and returning it to its poke ball. He reached out a hand towards her. "That was a really fun battle.", he said with a friendly smile on his face.

"The girl took his hand and let him help her back to her feet. "You were great as well. Your pokemon is very strong and determined.", she replied with a smile of her own. "Maybe one day, we can battle again."

"Sounds good to me." Kyo said.

The girl nodded, then walked away with her hands together in front of her.

When Kyo made it back to the locker rooms, I was already standing there, waiting to congratulate and question him about his battle and his tactics. When that was over with, we awaited our next opponents to be called. Our opponents weren't really that tough beyond that point and soon enough, it was down to the last match-

Myself and Lilith against Kyo and Kaoru.

This was going to be a tough battle for Lilith and I. Not only due to the type disadvantage but also due to Kyo's battle experience. But, that only made me even more ready to face him. Lilith and I were not going to back down easily. We were going to win this tournament. We were going to prove that we were going to be the next top trainer. I would be one step closer to achieving my goal of becoming better than "that trainer". There was only one thought left in my mind- Lilith and I- were not going to lose this battle, no matter what.

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**A/N: **So everyone, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as i enjoyed putting it together for you. Believe it or not, I re-wrote the battle scene about 5 times before I finally decided how it should go. My friend was the one who suggested his character, Kyo's, Poliwag should evolve. So now, Kaoru is a Poliwhirl. But that only makes Sarutobi's type situation worse. Not only does Lilith have to go up against a Water-type pokemon, but now the pokemon has evolved. Will they manage to get through this? Be on the lookout for Chapter 5 to find out. Til next time.


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